DISNEY'S HIGH HOPES FOR THE Little Mermaid in China were blown out of the water-pointing to much bigger problems for the company in future.
The live-action remake of the 1989 animated movie flopped in the country compared with other Western films, earning only around $3.7 million since opening on May 26. That's a paltry sum compared to its takings in the U.S. and worldwide, where it made $117 million and $413 million respectively on its opening weekend.
It highlights an urgent, growing problem for the under-pressure media titan. How can Disney tap into such a lucrative market, appealing to increasingly different Chinese values, while staying true to its push for greater diversity?
Many experts have blamed the racist backlash in China to casting Black singer Halle Bailey as the mermaid Ariel for the failure of The Little Mermaid, but this isn't the whole story. Others have pointed out that the popularity of Western films has been on the decline since the COVID pandemic, partly due to what some Chinese see as unfair criticism of their country over the origins of the virus.
This year, only one Western film has so far cracked the $100 million mark at the box office, Fast X, the latest installment in the Fast and the Furious franchise. It's a marked contrast from five years ago when 11 Hollywood films made over $100 million in China.
The lack of appetite for Western films is a challenge for all Hollywood studios but particularly for Disney, which is both pushing for diversity and has been rocked in the past year by a fall in earnings, mass layoffs and former CEO Bob Iger being brought back in to steady the ship. Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
Racism and Diversity
The Little Mermaid faced criticism from local Chinese media and social media users for casting Bailey instead of a white actress.
Denne historien er fra July 07, 2023-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
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Denne historien er fra July 07, 2023-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
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Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.
